Road & Track Magazine, May 1997, Volume 48, Number 9
Subscription Inquiries: P.O. Box 55279, Boulder, Colorado 80322
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Sneak Peek: 1998 and Beyond: Porsche Boxster upgrades

By Paul Frère

also...

Ampersand: A Finnish Porsche?

By Ken Zino
Edited By Andrew Bornhop

We knew it wouldn't be long before Porsche beefed up its Boxster. This prototype Boxster S packs a 3.0-liter flat-6 with 245 bhp. Note the new front bumper- it has a much larger air intake.

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Demand for the Boxster is so high that Porsche has made arrangements with a company in Finland to assemble them (see Ampersand, p. 41). So higher-powered version of the Boxster should not be expected until well into 1998, though they are being extensively tested now.

It seems that the next step will be an engine capacity increase to 3.0 liters, which would raise the output to around 245 bhp, an increase of 44 bhp over the 2.5-liter engine (and would stop lazy drivers complaining about the lack of low-range torque). If spy photos are to be believed, the more powerful model would be identified by a larger front air intake and an ugly fixed rear spoiler, already fitted to the current model shown at the Amsterdam motor show in February.

I also see a bright future for the Boxster in motorsport. Not everyone can spare $1 million for a 911 GT1 or McLaren GTR, and a lightweight Boxster with a 3.5-liter or a 3.0-liter turbocharged engine would make an ideal car for the GT2 class, where output is limited to 450 bhp and the allowed racing modifications are more restrictive. Such a car would be a perfect replacement for the 911 GT2 and could probably be offered at a price under about $190.000, one-fifth that of a 911 GT1.

Porsche's Boxster, as many as 5000 per year, will soon be built at the Valmet plant in Uusikaupunki, Finland.

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The 1997 allocation of Boxster models, the first all-new sports car from Zuffenhausen in 19 years, is entirely sold out to dealers, but Fred Schwab, president of Porsche Cars North America, says, "A creative person who tried hard can find one." Still, the waiting list early this spring was six months' long and growing. Demand, says Schwab, is running a about 1000 roadsters a month.

Porsche's Zuffenhausen plant outside of Stuttgart now has an estimated annual production of 15,000 911 models and 15,000 Boxster models scheduled during the fiscal year that starts August 1, 1997. This is an increase of 10,000 units from 1996. "Zuffenhausen is running flat-out," reports Schwab, "working two shifts six days a week, with the third shift working in bottleneck areas."

Starting this fall, some Boxsters will be built in Finland. Porsche has subcontracted final assembly of an estimated 5000 additional Boxster models annually to Valmet, an Uusikaupunki-based assembler of the Saab 900 Convertible and the Lada Samura models. "We don't think the location is a quality issue," said Schwab, "And Porsche employees will be there to make sure the cars are Porsches."

The Finnish cars will have different VINs from the German ones. And some of these Valmet-built cars will be shipped to the U.S. During the Eighties, of course, Audi built the 924 and 944 on Neckarsulm for Porsche, and annual production there reached 24,000 when sales were good.

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